


Enough is Enough

by Sams_Sister (Sams7)



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 12:54:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15195212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sams7/pseuds/Sams_Sister
Summary: Sam is fed up.





	Enough is Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Episode references: Divide and Conquer, Grace, Chimera, Death Knell
> 
> Originally written in 2004, before the title had any political connotation. 
> 
> Many thanks to Evangeline for her ever patient and detailed beta services. I don’t think we solved the POV issue, but I’m posting it 14 years later despite that. 
> 
> And now, I think I've approached "The Question" and "The Conversation" from every angle. ;)

~

Jack slid into the booth opposite Sam, doffing his jacket as he sat down. “So, what’s up with all the cloak and dagger stuff?” He gave her a quirky smile. 

“I just wanted to talk where we wouldn’t be interrupted.” She looked a little nervous. A waitress arrived to fill his coffee cup. Jack nodded but kept his attention on Sam’s slightly flushed face.

“So, what’s up?” he prompted again. He took a sip of coffee and waited. 

She hesitated a moment, then began, stammering slightly. “Ever since I’ve been with the Air Force I’ve done my best to be as professional as I could be. I studied hard, trained hard, worked after hours… a lot of it was proving that as a woman I could do anything a man could do. I didn’t want anyone to be able to say that I failed to live up to expectations.” She paused a moment, as if collecting her thoughts.

“You don’t need to prove anything to anyone, Carter. You’re the hardest worker I’ve ever encountered. That’s why I’m always telling you to get a life. You’re the best second in command I could ask for.” He wasn’t going to sit there and let her think she had failed in some way. 

“Thank you, sir. That means a lot.” Sam gave him a slight smile and then looked down at her coffee cup. “But there is an area where I feel I haven’t been quite… successful. And it’s the one thing that they always use to justify why women shouldn’t be in the military in the first place. It always makes me angry that people think women can’t serve alongside men without there being…emotional…complications.” She shot him a meaningful look. “I swore that would never happen with me…and then I fell right into it.” She furrowed her brow and nervously stirred her coffee.

Jack looked up in surprise at the direction this had taken. He thought for a moment and then offered, “Well, then I did, too. Carter, you can’t blame yourself for that…people can’t help how they _feel_. And you’ve been perfectly professional about it.” _Why is she talking about this now?_

“Yes, I have…and you have, too. We’ve put aside personal feelings and focused on the job at hand. I’m proud of that. But lately it hasn’t felt…right.” 

She drew back for a moment, as if considering how to continue. “When I was stranded on the Prometheus I had time to do a lot of soul-searching. I realized that I was missing something in my life. I had been putting it aside thinking that nothing mattered but the struggle against the Goa’uld.”

“Yeah, I know all about that…” Jack interrupted. “I kept thinking it couldn’t go on forever.”

“Yes, right. But I…I couldn’t wait anymore…I wanted a…‘life,’ as you say. And…I began to think that I was using you as an excuse to keep me from risking getting hurt by someone else. So I decided to…move on. My brother had been bugging me to meet his friend and Pete had that case here in Colorado Springs, so I figured the time must be right.” 

“Carter, why are you telling me this?” He was uncomfortable with the subject and getting impatient.

She looked pointedly at him. “Because I’m putting in for a transfer. I wanted you to know why.” She paused as if let her words sink in.

He was floored. “What? Why? I thought…oh! I see. You want to be able to spend more time with Pete. Right. So why the long story?”

“Oh, no, it’s not that at all,” she assured him. “Actually, Pete and I…that’s just not going anywhere.” She looked a little pensive.

“Oh? I’m…sorry. I thought you were crazy about each other. It sure looked that way.”

Sam blushed and Jack recalled that day in the elevator. Her face aglow...the humming. _What could have happened to end it?_

“I guess it was…infatuation. We had some fun together. But it’s not getting serious because I don’t want it to,” she said firmly. 

Jack was surprised. _Why would she give up something she’d wanted for so long?_

“Jack,” She used his name hesitantly and he raised an eyebrow, but refrained from commenting. “I realized that what I was afraid of was leaving the SGC and still ending up alone…without… _you_. But I am taking that risk now. I’m asking for the transfer so that if you want to…explore the possibility of… _us_ …we can.”

His eyes narrowed and his mouth twitched, but he said nothing. She swallowed convulsively and went on. “And if I’ve been wrong to hope there could ever _be_ an ‘us,’ then the transfer is just as well. I don’t think I can go on working so closely with you feeling the way I do.”

He sat silently staring at her. She couldn’t read his eyes. _He must think I’m crazy. This was a really bad idea._

“Well, you don’t have to say anything right now…or ever. I guess I should... probably go.” Sam fished in her pocket for some money and plunked it on the table, then grabbed her jacket and slipped out of the booth, avoiding his eyes. She had nearly passed his side of the table when he reached out and grasped her arm.

“Sam, wait.” He pulled her down to sit beside him. “I was in shock. I had made up my mind to be happy for you and Pete. I couldn’t believe there could be an _us_.”

Sam sat frozen for a moment, struggling to hold back the tears. She turned to him and with a tremulous smile, whispered, “Believe it.” She reached up to touch his cheek and kissed him gently on the lips. 

His arms came around her and he let himself trust in the future.

~~

_fin_


End file.
